


i'd love to take a trip with you

by Misterdevere



Series: what’s life without love [25]
Category: Kingsman (Movies)
Genre: Adopted Sibling Relationship, Brotherly Bonding, Gen, Protective Siblings, Separation Anxiety
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-09-18
Updated: 2020-09-18
Packaged: 2021-03-08 04:47:18
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,564
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26520001
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Misterdevere/pseuds/Misterdevere
Summary: While Merlin and Eggsy enjoy their afternoon in, Leo and Frankie enjoy an afternoon out
Relationships: Merlin/Gary "Eggsy" Unwin
Series: what’s life without love [25]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1868476
Comments: 4
Kudos: 12





	i'd love to take a trip with you

“Ready to go?” Leo tugged the zip up a little more on Frankie’s jacket and made sure the straps on his little backpack weren’t twisted, then double checked his pockets for keys, phone and wallet while Frankie nodded that he was ready. Leo turned to their dads, waiting at the door to see them off on their first day trip out together as if they’d be gone a year. “See you later.”

“Have fun.”

Merlin stroked his hand over Frankie’s curls. “Stick with Leo, okay?”

“Okay.” Frankie reached to be picked up and got kisses from both of them. “Bye bye.”

They waved from the door as the boys walked out hand in hand. They were off to the zoo for the day, which meant taking the tube. It wasn’t the first time they’d taken Frankie on there and he’d felt safe with two or three of them with him. Now it was just him and Leo but the adults had specifically picked a quieter time of day and figured it would probably be fine. Leo kept him on his lap the entire trip and once they got off, it was a nice stroll through the park before they got to the zoo.

Leo spent much of the day carrying Frankie to help him see things better or keep him out of crowds, and the little one hid behind his legs whenever he was on the ground. They stopped for a snack and a drink after a while and Leo grinned as Frankie chattered away about the animals they’d seen. Once they were done and heading off to the next enclosure, a group of kids ran past and knocked Frankie just enough that their hands separated. Leo didn’t have his eyes off of him for even a second but that was all the time it took for Frankie to panic and start wailing. Leo scooped him up immediately and held him as close as he could. “It’s okay. I’ve got you. I’m right here, you’re safe, little bud. You’re always safe with me, I promise. I’ll never ever let you get taken away or lost.”

He barely seemed soothed so Leo carried him off to a quieter area again and carried on trying to calm him down. Eventually he quietened a little but was still skittish of everyone that passed even remotely close to them.

“You alright?” The boy kept sniffling and didn’t answer. “D’you wanna sit down again for a bit?” Frankie shook his head as tears flowed down his chubby cheeks. “You wanna go home?” Frankie nodded. “You sure? We didn’t even make it to the shop yet, we can get new toys.”

“Wanna go home.” Leo’s heart broke a little bit. He wanted to spoil him a little bit. It was silly but he wanted to see him as excited about all the stuffed animals in the gift shop as he was about all the real ones. It wouldn’t be the same but he could always buy him some online, he supposed, or bring him back another time.

“Alright, let’s go. We’re gonna have to go past lots of people to get to the exit, okay? But I’ve got you and you can hold on as tight as you want.” Frankie muttered a quiet ‘okay’ and Leo bumped him up higher. By the time they got to the exit, he was sure Frankie’s grip would have his neck aching in the morning. He ordered them a cab (the last thing he wanted to do was traumatise him even more on the tube) and had Frankie in his lap all the way. Frankie finally settled being safe with Leo and without any strangers around. “Sorry you got scared.”

“S’okay.”

“Promise I’ll hold on tighter next time, yeah?” Frankie nodded. “How do you feel about going to the park near home on the way back? I can push you on the swing and we can get ice cream. We don’t have to go through any crowds or talk to anyone if you don’t want to.”

They were slowly working on getting him used to other people so they tried to encourage him to talk to other kids and tried not to let groups seem so scary but it was obvious when he was overwhelmed and when not to push things. And Leo wanted the day to end on a happy note of some kind so if the knowledge that he didn’t have to interact with more people made him more likely to go and have some fun, he was happy to give him that. It was only a small park, there were never more than three other kids there and Frankie knew it well so it seemed a pretty safe option. Leo was pleased when he seemed up for it.

The swing was taken when they got there so Leo rocked him on the springy zebra instead, making sure he didn’t fall off and making him giggle. As soon as it was empty, Leo flew him through the air to the swings and had him squealing as he pushed him higher and higher. When he’d had enough, Leo heaved him out and was pleased that the boy seemed so much happier. “Why don’t you have a go on the slide?”

There was another little boy going down periodically so Leo knew he might want to avoid it but he hoped that with him at a safe distance, Frankie might be willing to chat and play with him. Turns out they weren’t so chatty but they did take turns nicely and it meant he didn’t need to cling to Leo for a few minutes. Eventually he wandered back over. “Can we get ice cream now please?”

“Course we can. With a flake and strawberry sauce and everything.” They made their way to the ice cream van and found an empty bench to sit and eat, and once sticky hands were clean, Leo held on tight to walk home. “We’re back!”

Eggsy and Merlin were half asleep on the sofa by then. Leo got Frankie’s coat and shoes off and Frankie clambered up to join them. “Hello, darling. Did you have a nice day?”

“Yeah. Leo got me ice cream.”

“We went to the zoo and the park, didn’t we?” Frankie nodded happily. “Saw lots of animals, went on the swings. We had fun, right?”

“Yeah.” Frankie babbled for a while about their day and Eggsy and Merlin listened along with huge grins. Eventually, he wound down and turned to Merlin. “Poppop, I need a wee.”

“Good boy. Come on, then.” Merlin carried Frankie off upstairs and Leo took his spot on the sofa.

“Didn’t know you were going to the park.”

“We weren’t. He got bumped and let go of my hand for like a second and got kind of freaked out so we left the zoo early. He settled down by the time we were pretty much back here and I didn’t wanna fuck up the whole day so I thought we’d go to the park. Ended up getting him to share the slide with another kid so I guess that’s something.”

“Sounds pretty good on the whole.”

“Makes me kinda sad that he gets so stressed out. I don’t like to see him missing out on stuff, I couldn’t even talk him into buying a souvenir. Kinda feels like he’s missing out on being a kid.”

“I know but he will get to be a kid. It’s separation anxiety. I guess he has it worse than most kids but it’s pretty normal. You screamed your head off every time I left the room for about three months when you were two, it was a right pain in the arse.” Leo snickered. “He’s been moved around a lot and he hasn’t been with us that long, he just needs to adjust and he’ll grow out of it. We just have to be patient with him and help him understand that we’re not going anywhere.” Leo nodded thoughtfully. “What’s up?”

“D’you think I’m gonna be a good dad?

“Course you will, why wouldn’t you?”

“I dunno. Me and Georgina have started making proper plans and now I think I’m more keen on the idea of kids than she is, and I don’t wanna fuck it up. Like, shouldn’t I have known what would be too much for him today, or held his hand tighter or carried him around all day so he didn’t get scared or something?”

“Calm down, mate. There are a lot of times as a parent that you think you’re fucking up but this shouldn’t be one of them. You gave him a fun day, it doesn’t have to be perfect. Things will change but for now, things can be tricky with Frankie and you’re so great with him.” Eggsy stood and dropped a kiss to the top of Leo’s head. “My sweet boy. You’re gonna be an amazing dad.”

Merlin and Frankie came trotting back down, Frankie having changed into pyjamas, and the toddler climbed up into Leo’s lap. “Thanks for taking me to the zoo and to the park and getting me ice cream.”

“You’re welcome. I’m glad you had a good day. We’ll go on lots more fun trips, yeah?” Frankie nodded with a big smile and flung his arms around Leo’s neck, getting a big hug back.


End file.
